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Real Wage Cyclicality in Italy

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  • Peng, Fei

    (Shanghai Lixin University of Accounting and Finance)

  • Siebert, W. Stanley

    (University of Birmingham)

Abstract

This paper analyzes the cyclical behaviour of male real wages in Italy using the European Community Household Panel 1994-2001. We distinguish between job stayers (remaining in the same job), and within- and between-company job movers. Stayers are the large majority. We find stayers in Northern Italy to have high cyclicality of real wages, higher in fact than the US and the UK. The Northern cyclicality is significant for all sub-samples (except for public sector workers), and higher in small firms, the private sector, and for temporary workers, as expected. In contrast, we find little wage cyclicality for any sub-group in the Centre-South, even for workers in small private sector firms. Evidently, labour markets in the North of Italy operate much more competitively than in the Centre and South.

Suggested Citation

  • Peng, Fei & Siebert, W. Stanley, 2006. "Real Wage Cyclicality in Italy," IZA Discussion Papers 2465, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp2465
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    Cited by:

    1. Peng, Fei & Anwar, Sajid & Kang, Lili, 2017. "New technology and old institutions: An empirical analysis of the skill-biased demand for older workers in Europe," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 1-19.
    2. Kang, Lili & Peng, Fei, 2012. "Real wage cyclicality in urban China," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 115(2), pages 141-143.
    3. Anger, Silke, 2011. "The cyclicality of effective wages within employer–employee matches in a rigid labor market," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(6), pages 786-797.
    4. Lili Kang & Fei Peng, 2018. "Economic Reform and Productivity Convergence in China," Arthaniti: Journal of Economic Theory and Practice, , vol. 17(1), pages 50-82, June.
    5. Paulino Font & Mario Izquierdo & Sergio Puente, 2015. "Real wage responsiveness to unemployment in Spain: asymmetries along the business cycle," IZA Journal of European Labor Studies, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-13, December.
    6. Verdugo, Gregory, 2016. "Real wage cyclicality in the Eurozone before and during the Great Recession: Evidence from micro data," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 46-69.
    7. Anderton, Robert & Maria, José R. & Karšay, Alexander & Szörfi, Béla & Périnet, Mathilde & Petroulas, Pavlos & Beck Nelleman, Peter & Conefrey, Thomas & Veiga, Cindy & Zizza, Roberta & Verdugo, Gregor, 2015. "Comparisons and contrasts of the impact of the crisis on euro area labour markets," Occasional Paper Series 159, European Central Bank.
    8. Peng, Fei & Siebert, W. Stanley, 2007. "Real Wage Cyclicality in Germany and the UK: New Results Using Panel Data," IZA Discussion Papers 2688, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Isabella David, 2009. "Composition Bias and Italian Wage Rigidities over the Business Cycle," LABORatorio R. Revelli Working Papers Series 92, LABORatorio R. Revelli, Centre for Employment Studies.
    10. Lili Kang & Fei Peng, 2017. "Wage flexibility in the Chinese labour market, 1989–2009," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(4), pages 616-628, April.
    11. Fei Peng & Sajid Anwar & Lili Kang, 2020. "Job Movement and Real Wage Flexibility in Eastern and Western Parts of Germany," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 44(4), pages 764-789, October.
    12. Lili Kang & Fei Peng, 2012. "A selection analysis of returns to education in China," Post-Communist Economies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(4), pages 535-554, March.
    13. repec:ecb:ecbops:2008159 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Lyashok, Victor Yu. (Ляшок, Виктор) & Lopatina, Marina V. (Лопатина, Марина), 2019. "Wage Flexibility in Russia: Empirical Evidence from Microdata Analysis [Гибкость Заработных Плат В России: Что Показывают Микроданные?]," Ekonomicheskaya Politika / Economic Policy, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, vol. 4, pages 96-119, August.
    15. Christodoulopoulou, Styliani & Kouvavas, Omiros, 2022. "Wages, compositional effects and the business cycle," Working Paper Series 2653, European Central Bank.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Italy; real wage cyclicality; job stayers; ECHP;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • K31 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Labor Law

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